A/N: This was originally written for the graphic+writing challenge by ~Capturethe-Flag on tumblr ( visit post/23595891214/nerdy-nereid-you-deserve-another-chance-come to view the original submission) - a sort-of collab between Kirii and myself (we both came up with the idea at the same time, she made the graphic, I wrote the piece. xD) It's pre-SoN, and what I imagine to have happened right after Nico rescued his sister from the Underworld. There aren't enough Nico-Hazel sibling fics. D: Really, those two are just adorable together, exactly what a caring brother and devoted sister should be, in my opinion, at least. (it's not like I have brothers IRL, so I don't know. xP) I really hope Riordan would let us see a little more interaction between them in the future books. Is that too much to ask, RR? :(

Disclaimer: I don't own Nico or Hazel or the Heroes of Olympus series, Rick Riordan does. And I'm insanely jealous about that. (But he does a million times better job of owning them, so I'm not complaining...much.)

Also, special thanks to Kirii (~nerdy-nereid, ~Reynico, whatever. You have too many names. :P) for the idea, corrections and the beauuutiful graphic - it's really sweet! And another huuuge hug for Simon, (whom I prefer to call Leo or Flamingo because I can, BD ) for all the support, encouragement, concrit, feedback and general putting up with hyperactive cats. You guys are just amazing, both in Troll world and out of it. :)

Enjoy and review! :)

~ Another Chance ~

"You deserve another chance. Come with me."

She didn't know what made her obey and come with the boy in black, but she still did. The translucent forms of the dead parted before Nico as he led her through the The Fields of Asphodel. She had no idea where they were headed to. The Underworld was so vast that even a million years of aimless drifting wouldn't have covered it all. It was hard to pull herself away. She was still a spirit and the realm of the death wasn't pleased to let her go.

"It's night time in the mortal world…she should be away for a few more hours," Nico said checking his watch. "This way, Hazel."

He led her through a long way around a river – a river that she couldn't pass as a spirit. The Lethe would have rid her of the painful memories that haunted her even in death; but it would have taken away those she wished to preserve and cherish. After a long time - or short; one could never tell in the underworld - a cave entrance came into view atop a mountain. A dusty path lined with human bones snaked up the mountain and continued into the cave. It was pitch black.

They went up. At the entrance, Nico hesitated for a moment, looking back at his sister and – would it work? – taking her by the hand, entered the cave.

They didn't see where they were going – but Hazel's senses seemed to come back to life as they went on trusting pure instinct. They didn't hit the walls, in any case. It seemed to stretch on forever. A faint light glittered at the far end, bobbing up and down like a jack-o-lantern. It loomed further away no matter how long they walked on…

…or maybe it was just their wariness taking over.

At last, the light didn't pass and the cave was ending. It got lower and they were in a corridor, barely lit, musty and freezing cold. It didn't seem it had known human presence for a very long time. Cobwebs covered the exit. The space beyond was deserted.

The dark misty robe that was her attire in the underworld had morphed into the plain frock she died in. Hazel was alive once more – as mortal, vulnerable, fragile and cursed as she was.

She promptly fainted.

Nico could barely catch her as she sank to the ground unconscious. Despite his anxiety, he was happy after a long, long time. He was not alone anymore. He had a family. A sister. She wasn't Bianca, true enough, but Hazel was the next best thing.

A few drops of water later, she opened her eyes. They were still in the corridor and her senses told that they were underground. With some effort, she propped herself against the wall and looked up at her savior.

He was sitting cross-legged on the floor with a backpack next to him. The worried look on his face passed away in a second and he lit up with a smile. Hazel couldn't help returning it, wondering at the same time how much younger and innocent he looked when he smiled. He was so different from the quiet and care-worn mortal she'd seen amongst the dead in the Fields of Asphodel.

The Fields of Asphodel. She was alive!

"It…it worked?" she asked nervously, knowing that it was a stupid question.

"Yeah." Nico grinned. "But you passed out on the last steps. Should be expected, I guess – when was the last time you had food? Sixty, seventy years ago? I didn't dare give nectar or ambrosia right away – I didn't want you to burn up just as you came back," he said, sheepishly. "Welcome to 2009!"

Being solid once more was a truly wonderful experience, not to mention feeling her new life course through her. Hearing, talking, breathing, feeling the freezing draft once again – there were no words for it. She was shivering, but even that felt amazing – for the first few minutes, at least. She looked around, taking in the shock and surroundings. It needed some getting used to.

"W-where are we? T-that wasn't C-Charon's way, was it?"

Nico cursed himself and shrugged out of his aviator jacket. Putting it around her, he said "no, it wasn't. Even though Death is missing, Charon still has the main entrance under his watch. If we came out across River Styx our father might have been alerted right away. I didn't want to announce your departure to everyone. We could have had better place to camp in, though - Crusty's is just a block away. But this will have to do."

Hazel didn't know whether he was joking or not. "So you ARE my brother? A son of Pluto? You can come and go through underworld at any time?"

He hesitated for a moment, and he kept his eyes steadily on the floor as he answered. "Yeah, I am. I used to spend a lot of time there…to help dad and see my other sister, Bianca, when I can – but I usually shadow traveled or got through the DOA. This way" he waved his hand back at the path they came through, "I found it when I came with – with some friends on a quest last December. It's Melinoe's path. Not my favorite exit, though." A shadow crossed his face. He pulled out his sword almost involuntarily, a quick reflex hinting at a memory not so good. The sword was jet black. Looking at it, Hazel felt the temperature drop ten degrees around them.

"What is it?" the question popped out before she could stop herself. What would the nuns at the school say for her behavior? "Sorry, I was curious," she added hastily.

"It's a Stygian Iron sword," he said seriously. "It sucks out the essence of the monsters – or anyone, I think, but I haven't tested."

Hazel had a sudden, mad urge to laugh. He couldn't be much older than herself, and without his coat on, Nico looked even thinner and younger. She couldn't imagine him in a battle, wielding that sword, fighting against...those huge blue giants she saw in Alaska, for an example. But then she remembered how the spirits had bowed and parted before him – and one had to be pretty scary if even the ghosts were scared of him.

"Where are we now?" she asked, looking at the cobwebbed exit. She had no idea who Melinoe was, but it seemed that Melinoe either loved spiders or hated cleaning.

"An underground railway station – or it was meant to be. It's supposed to be haunted because it was never completed-"

"-Caved in," Hazel whispered, "while…while they were…"

"I know," Nico answered gently. "But how did you know that?"

She shook her head. She couldn't explain how she knew it – but the place around them seemed to carry earth seemed to vibrate with malicious thoughts, laughing at the memory of those poor victims. It hadn't been an accident. Hazel suddenly knew that a reenactment would soon happen if they lingered anymore. They had to get out of there as soon as possible. How long would it be before SHE knew that her slave was alive again? The walls seemed to close in from all the sides, horribly reminding on the breaking cavern...

She hurried up to her feet. The girl was still weak and swayed dangerously, almost losing consciousness again. Nico grabbed her just in time. "Why? What happened?" he asked startled, looking around. His gaze fixed on the exit.

"Oh no…not again…" he mumbled, pushing his sister behind, shielding her. Hazel peeked around him , praying that it wasn't Gaea, and had almost a similar shock.

A beautiful lady in a long black dress looked down at Nico sadly. Pale and almost transparent, she floated a feet above the ground. "I awaited you, my son…your sister left me and I thought that at least you would-"

"You're not my mother," Nico said. "Begone!"

The lady locked her gaze with Hazel, and the girl almost screamed.

"Mother?" Has she come back from death too? Hazel felt that she should be happy for her return, but only pure dread ran through her as Marie Levesque glared. When she spoke, it was not her mother's own low and mysterious voice. It was the other voice, ancient and powerful, cruel and malicious, hating her, commanding her.

"You leave me to wait forever while [i]you[/i] go back to the mortals while your father's not looking? Always a failure, never a thought for your mother…you destroyed my whole life, you cursed child! YOU killed me!" her voice rose up in a shriek. "If it weren't for you stupidity we'd both be alive, you cruel, accursed girl! You are-"

"-Don't listen to her, Hazel" Nico yelled, picking up the sword in one hand and grabbing her with the other. "Leave my sister out of this, Melinoe!"

The apparition changed form again, and they could finaly see her true form. A gruesomely twisted chalky-white-and-charred-black face glared down at them with an evil sneer.

"Thought you could just sneak out while I was away? You ought to pay more attention to the time, it's almost daybreak! Your father is not going to be happy when I hand you and your "sister" back, boy! Better yet, why your father? I'll give both of you to my Lady, and you'll have all the time you want for brother-sister bonding!" she hissed. She raised a hand, and white curls of smoke twisted around their legs, icy cold and burning, tightening around.

"It won't happen," Nico slashed through the smoke and it vanished, and Melinoe hissed in rage. Just as she raised her hand again he pushed Hazel aside and sprang forward, slashing down at her arm. Golden blood, ichor, dripped from the wound, and she vanished in a puff of ash and smoke.

But their troubles weren't over.

A gang of hell hounds ran down the tunnel, barking and biting away at both of them. They seemed intent on keeping them apart, which was cunning on their side as Hazel was unarmed and Nico couldn't battle a dozen of them at once. And the corridor was too narrow.

"Back down outside!" He shouted, taking down two monsters in one swipe, and barely missed another bite. Trying not to make herself too much of a target, Hazel picked the backpack and ran out, Nico close on her heels. The hell hounds followed, even angrier after the first kills. He rounded back with equal ferocity – and Hazel lost all her doubts of him not being a fighter. Only a true warrior would be able to fight ten monsters at once and defend another person, the way he did. The sword sucked in the monsters at it passed through their necks, and soon there were only a three of them – the worst, most cunning hell hounds circling him, snarling and biting from three sides…

For Hazel, it was too much for her first hour alive. It was her fault that those monsters attacked him! Her anxiety for his safety and the frustration for being no help, that she was the weak point - triggered the old curse. The floor cracked open as a diamond large as her clenched fist broke through.

The sound distracted the fighters for a moment, but the hell hounds recovered just a second earlier. Nico dodged one and slashed through the other, but the third attacked before he could rise the sword again.

He fell back with a sickening thud as the hound bared its teeth in malice, locking him on the floor. It seemed it was over – Nico di Angelo would die right there. Just a split second before it could tear at his neck, the young girl picked the diamond and threw it at the monster as hard as she could, pointed-face first. It didn't do much damage other than lodging on it's forehead and making the hell hound even more angrier, but the second's distraction was all that was needed. It looked up at her with a malicious growl - just what Nico needed to push it off himself and get up in lightening speed. The Stygian Iron sword went down in a swift, masterful arc as it went through one monster's neck and end at the last one's heart. He watched in grim satisfaction as the hounds crumbled into dust all around them.

It was over. Nico sheathed his sword and turned back to Hazel, grinning in spite of the rips and tears of his clothing and the tired and sleepy eyes. She didn't much like grinning back - all that happened so suddenly was a shock. Seeing her mother again and hearing those retorts which had tortured her for years, the recurrence of the curse, attack on her savior's life bare minutes after they escaped the Dead...it was too much for a first day.

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry," Nico came up and patted her. "We were lucky – I don't think that she had time to think through the attack. Those hell hounds were the least scary monsters she could have thrown. Nice diversion, by the way – when did you learn target throwing?"

He was trying to lighten the situation, Hazel understood that much. Nico dug out a Ziploc bag of wafers – or so she thought until he broke one and gave it to her. "Eat it – it should give you some energy enough to get out of here. We'll get some food outside - you HAVE to have a happy meal. Wonder what toy would they have this time," he winked. She gave a small smile in return, he sounded so happy and lighthearted just then. She wondered how many people had seen this side of her brother. There wasn't a single ghost of worry in his face just then, all he looked was happy and excited.

"We'll have to wait until it's dark to shadow travel; that would give us the whole day to catch up on each other," he said, pulling up his bag and brushing off the dirt. "Let's…let's go then?"

Hazel nodded. She pulled the aviator jacket closer around herself, but she couldn't go just yet. She had one last thing to do.

"Thank you, Nico," she said, barely more than a whisper. "For…for everything."

He looked as if he'd like to say something, and then simply wrapped his sister in a hug. She hugged back tighter…it was a debt that she would never be able to pay.